Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) Passed Our Checks, And It's About To Pay A US$0.11 Dividend
Readers hoping to buy Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. If you purchase the stock on or after the 11th of February, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 26th of February.
Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s next dividend payment will be US$0.11 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.44 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) has a trailing yield of 2.7% on the current share price of $16.23. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
View our latest analysis for Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s payout ratio is modest, at just 50% of profit.
When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For this reason, we're glad to see Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s earnings per share have risen 16% per annum over the last five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the past ten years, Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) has increased its dividend at approximately 14% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
To Sum It Up
Is Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) worth buying for its dividend? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. Overall, Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
Curious what other investors think of Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)? See what analysts are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow.
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
